A Roomful of Mirrors
by fugaziclash
Summary: After being shot in the back by the coward Kraven, Lucian hovers on the brink of death. One last, desperate gamble is to inject the blood of Amelia, blending the bloodlines and changing events irrevocably. Underworld AU
1. Chapter 1

"Silver nitrate. Bet you weren't expecting that"

Lucian, great leader of the Lycans, falls. Without a scream, without a whimper, only a sigh.

_Pain. Pain like nothing on earth. Burning away everything. Strength. Dignity. Hope. Gone, gone, gone. Life. Love. Sonya…_

And there perhaps it should have ended. Lucian slain by Kraven. As it was written, so it shall be, what were once lies now purified to ring true. On the surface, anyway. Kraven the hero would still be a falsehood, but Kraven the coward would have done the deed nonetheless.

Yes, maybe that would have been a fitting end to this story. But sometimes the book refuses to close quite so easily. A last surge of adrenaline through spoiled muscle, a breath of air just reaching exhausted lungs, the memory of just what is being fought for surging into the consciousness just before it would have lapsed forever. And suddenly the end is not an end, the axe hovers on the brink of its fall and life continues, even if but for a few stolen minutes.

_Howls and swords clashing, ripping skin and tearing fur. Each breath brings with it more pain, but still they come, each one a small miracle__ in the midst of all this bloodshed – my legacy, my curse. _

The seemingly lifeless body on the ground twitches slightly, a quick shaking breath and leaden eyelids forced open, seeing grey, grey, all detail blurring out of sight.

_Pain, pain, pain…_

He fights to keep his eyes open, blinking to clear his vision and fighting against the voice inside his head that tells him to close his eyes, close his eyes and wrap himself up in sweet numbing exhaustion, let it carry him away. He can feel the liquid silver still banding through him, his blood turned to poison that even he cannot rid himself of. The most he can do is to fight the acid's progress to his weakly beating heart, that task in itself sapping his energy and concentration.

"_Silver nitrate….weren't expecting"…."exactly why we need Michael"…"What are they gonna do to Selene?"…"It's Victor"…"feared a blending of the species"… _

_Blending of the species. Michael. The Death Dealer. Me. Sonja…The scent of vampire blood in the air, bitter and pungent. A full syringe unbroken on the stone floor, a long metre away._

_Blending of the species. Me. Michael. Amelia._

_The scent of vampire blood in the air. A full syringe unbroken on the stone floor._

_Blending of the species. Me._

Slowly, painfully, the fallen lycan pulls himself up on shaking arms, unblinking eyes fixed on Raze's fallen pack, dragging, forcing, willing himself forward, inch by inch, until a clawing, twitching hand grips cool glass filled with dark, dark blood. The needle slides into a silver laced vein, any sting lost in the whirlpool of other pains wracking his dying body, and with his last ounce of energy, Lucian pushes the blood in to his veins, vampire venom to mingle with the poison already there.

_Whatever doesn't kill you…_

His whole body shakes, falling back to the ground as muscles warp, bones split, crack, reform. He's changing, mutating into something new, bastard child of the bloodlines, Amelia's blood forcing the transformation of his poison riddled body.

_More than five hundred years ago, in a village in west Germany, ravaged by fire and by__ one of our number - maddened after capture by the Death Dealers. We came too late, no survivors to recruit, our old comrade gone too far in his frenzy, the villagers torn and past saving. But then the moon twisted out from behind the clouds, full and bright, and those twisted shards of bodies grew and changed and joined us in lycan form._

_The night alive with howls at the miracle the moon had wrought._

_And the morning split with cries when their lycan forms melted back to mangled human bodies, capable only of a few brief breaths and then death._

The changes halt, and Lucian's eyes snap open. No pupil, no iris, just black, deep black. He feels less changed from himself than in his familiar lycan body, but at the same time totally alien, senses heightened to a point that is near painful. He sees the tiny particles of dust in the air, tastes the scents of each individual vampire and lycan within these walls, all competing for attention. And he hears, amidst all the noise and howls of battle, two voices…

"They'd kill you too, just for helping me." _The boy, Michael, the one who had seen, who had understood._

"I know."

Lucian pulls a hiss through jagged teeth. _Death Dealer. Not just any. Victor's own trained killer. Selene. _Then black eyes widen.

"_What are they gonna do to Selene?"_

_Blending of the species. Michael. Selene._

_Me, back in chains on my knees, watching her burn. _

_Sonja…_

_It will not happen again.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Will no one ever learn? Must I always be correcting the same mistakes, over and over?_

Victor snarls under his breath, and the vampires near him shift back ever so slightly, fearing the Elder's easily provoked rage. They have almost reached the Lycan's hideout, adrenaline and bloodlust thickening the air as vampires ready both their arms and their wits for the battle to come. Suddenly, Victor halts, his whole body stiffening, eyes flashing furiously.

_The scents of vampire and lycan, blending together unnaturally, both scents unmistakably emanating from the same being. _

_Lucian._

_ The dog will pay for the abomination with his blood._

"You will proceed without me. I have higher _concerns_ than disposing of such low-class mongrels."

Victor disappears into the night, coat flaring behind him.

* * * * *

_He is safe, for now. Should I have felt such relief as I did? He is lycan, and everything that I am should detest his existence, but somehow what I feel is quite the opposite. I am sure that if he were to die, then some part of me would be lost with him…_

Selene glances over at Michael, who stalks through the dank corridors beside her, already adopting the poise and natural grace of the wolf. He meets her gaze, and smiles shyly.

_How can someone be nervous of a gaze, when they are so surrounded by danger? I doubt I shall ever understand this man…lycan. _

She is on edge, aware that her ability to sense other threats could well be obscured by Michael's presence so close besides her. A brief moment ago she had thought she heard a quiet growl behind them, and had whirled around ready to face an attacker, only to see a deserted corridor behind her. She had frowned, certain that something was not as it should be, but having no choice but to ignore it. Her priority at this moment had to be Michael. He had quickly informed her of what he had learned of the events that had begun this terrible war, and she was now certain that if Victor was to find Michael then the man who she had for so long considered a father wouldn't pause before slaughtering her love.

_That is not the Victor I know. Would he really do that? Michael is not the vile beast that Lucian is, he is sensitive and pure-hearted. If Victor sees Michael, he will attack immediately, but if I were to go to him alone after this battle and reason with him, then perhaps he might listen, might allow our union. If I told him that I love Michael…_

_But Michael said that Lucian and Sonja had loved each other._

_And that had not made Victor halt the slaughter of his own daughter._

_Michael must be wrong. An animal like Lucian could not possibly feel more than feral lust. He must have been mislead Michael to turn him against Victor. If I had but the opportunity to explain, Victor would listen._

_But first, Michael must be got to safety. That is my priority for now._

There is another noise from behind them, claws scratching against the floor. A Lycan. Selene swings around, aiming her gun into the darkness, poised to fire at the slightest movement. But then a low, threatening growl sounds from the other side of the corridor and she hears the beast slowly back away down the corridor away from them.

_Almost as if it had been warned off._

She turns quickly in the direction the growl had sounded, but any further noise is masked by the clang of Michael opening the metal door behind her. She frowns, but turns back to Michael and their escape.

Just in time to see him shot to the ground.

_No!_

_He's dying, oh blood he's dying…_

_The thrill I felt when Kahn showed me these new bullets…and now they have worked to rob Michael from me. Is this punishment for all the lycans I have slaughtered over the years?_

_I can't save him. All I can do is watch helplessly as his eyes fill with pain, as the silver steals the life from his veins. All I can do is try to comfort him as he disappears before my eyes…all I can do is hear his voice from earlier in my head, his voice filled with pain as if it had been his own._

"_Victor killed her, Sonja, his daughter. And he chained Lucian to the ground, meters from her, so that he would have to watch as she burned, watch and know that he could do nothing to save her. Totally powerless…"_

There's movement at the doorway, but Selene barely notices, her gaze not shifting from Michael's. Heavy footsteps approach.

"That's enough, you're coming with me."

_Kraven. He reaches for me. I move my arm up to deflect his grip, acidic words ready to slip off the tip of my tongue. He will die for this. If not by my hand then by Victor's. _

Kraven's hand is swept away, and he scowls darkly, like he had expected Selene to welcome him with open arms now that he has disposed of the lycan 'competition'. Sending a vicious look right back, Selene opens her mouth to speak.

And then closes it again as a shadow descends, sudden and terrible.

Kraven is swept back, his back clanging against the metal door which swings closed behind him, held off the floor by black claws that close around his neck. His eyes are wide, disbelieving as he stutters out breathless words.

"I…killed…you"

"Once again, you seek an accolade that is not yours, _cousin_."

The shadow's voice is warped through sharp teeth, but apparently not beyond recognition. Selene hears a gasp from Michael, quiet and barely there.

"Lucian…"

She gasps.

_**This**__ is Lucian? _

_He is not as he was before. He was a lycan. Now he is something else, a vampire wrapped in the shadow of a wolf. A hybrid…_

_My breath stops dead in my throat. _

_Just like Michael's. _

_Oh please no…_

_The shadow's voice sounds again. I look up to see eyes of black staring at us, powerful and urging. _

"_Bite him." _

_I look at Michael, still but…yes…just barely alive. _

_Michael must remain alive._

_I frown. _

_Half vampire. Half lycan. Stronger than both._

_I look up at the shadow that is Lucian. His lips tilt in a smile._

_I look back to Michael. _

_And then my fangs meet the skin of his neck…_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - Thanks so much to those that have commented on the first two parts, it means so much to know that people are reading this and enjoying it. This chapter is quite short, I'm afraid, but the next one will be the big fight, and so you can expect it to be rather long! I hope you enjoy this chapter - please review if you do :)

**Part 3**

Lucian watches, features twisted into a smile that for once is only vaguely tainted by the loss that underlines everything, never ending, always present even in bright moments such as this.

_And then there were two. Two hybrids. Two of us stepping out into a bright new dawn._

_With Michael at my side we shall finally have the means to end this damned war._

_As if it was ever a war…_

…_as if it were ever more than Victor's hateful purge of my brethren._

_But still, even if we succeed, it shall be too late._

_Always too late to save her._

_Sonja…_

Distracted, Lucian doesn't notice Kraven bringing his gun up silently to aim at his chest.

And either does he see Victor enter the room, rage in those vile blue eyes, frozen by the sight of Sonja's replacement bent over her lycan love.

Not until bullets enter his chest at close range, the force flinging him backwards to land in a heap at the feet of his former master. The symbolism isn't lost on him, even amidst the pain, and a bitter sneer tilts his lips for a moment and remains there, even as Victor bends down and grips him by the neck, drawing him up until his clawed feet barely scratch the floor.

_A slight tightening of his grip and my windpipe will collapse…what is preventing him from making that move? If I had such an opportunity, I would not hesitate before bringing about his death._

_Unless…does he not realise just what…who…he has caught? Have Selene's actions so blinded him with rage that he cannot even recognize the features of the one he most despises?_

Lucian very nearly laughs despite his perilous situation, but the amusement passes almost instantaneously, his features hardening.

_No, I will not be some anonymous death by his hands._

_I will kill him, and he shall know that it was I._

_He shall know that I have avenged his daughter, finally. _

Lucian pushes words past the fingers tight around his throat, voice thick with hate.

"Is that any way to treat your son-in-law, Victor?"

Victor hisses, eyes flashing dangerously, and Lucian uses the moment of shock to lash out with clawed hands, freeing himself and moving out of range of Victor's sword in one fluid movement.

If Victor was furious before, now he is rage incarnate, the seething, hateful monster that usually hides behind cultivated façade on full display.

Spittle flecks the air as he snarls violently.

"Lucian. You have perverted the natural order for the last time."

His eyes flick up and down, narrowing as they take in Lucian's changed form.

"You defile my daughter, you turn yourself into a living abomination, and even that is not enough for you!"

Lucian's gaze follows Victor's, over to where the Death Dealer watches with fearful eyes.

_She does not fear for herself._

_No, her concern is only for Michael, body poised in front of his protectively as he shakes and groans, the change commencing._

_Victor shall not take them from each other, as he took Sonja from me._

_I growl deep in my throat and leap towards Victor, digging claws into cold, dead skin and sending both of us flying, away from Michael and the Death Dealer, crashing through concrete and dust and landing with a splash into the water below._

_Pulling myself to my feet, I face the monster that blighted my life forever._

_He draws his sword. _

_I bare my teeth and wonder if he can see his certain death reflected in the black of my eyes, as I can see mine in his._

_Then there is no time for thought, only claws and fists, slicing swords and pain, pain, pain…_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** – thanks so much for all of the reviews of the last part, especially those that got me thinking – cheers! Just a note – because of the earlier events, and their impact on how things have happened in this fic as compared to the plot of the film, Selene does **not** know that it was Victor that killed her family. Kraven didn't get the chance to tell her, so she still thinks that it was lycans. I just thought I should remind people of this, as it was a pretty minor detail in the last chapter…but actually has a _huge_ effect on the Selene PoV that is this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this , and if you do then please review and let me know (if you don't then feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong!) Here's the next chapter!

**Part 4**

The wall was split, a gaping hole showing clouded sky and crumbling masonry, the sounds of fighting already bleeding in to reach Selene inside.

_Everything in me yearns to join the fight – to aid the man who has been like a father to me since the death of my own. but equally, I cannot leave Michael – not when he's defenseless like this-_

Suddenly, Michael gasps, a strange, hungry sound, and his eyes snap open to reveal black, deep ebony black. Selene shivers despite herself, his gaze is like staring down the deepest chasm, everything in her telling her to run, to get as far away as possible.

She takes a deep breath.

_He's still Michael. Remember, he's still Michael._

Still, she darts her gaze away from his, watching instead as the last tremors leave his body, the change complete. He does not look lycan, vampire or human, he does not even resemble the strange, terrible creature that Lucian has become. His stature has not greatly increased, although his build is noticeably more muscled than before. His skin has darkened to a deep, bruised blue , teeth have lengthened and sharpened and his feet and hands now boast wicked claws. The most noticeable difference though is not strictly physical. Before, when Selene had looked at Michael she had seen many things – his kindness, his understanding, his intelligence. And these were all still there, however, now when she looked at him these were masked by something else, something so apparent it was almost blinding. Michael was deadly. Selene could feel it, rolling off him in waves – danger, danger, danger.

_But he's still Michael. That's what is important. He's still Michael, and he's still alive, when I thought I'd lost him._

The new hybrid on the floor opens his mouth and Michael's voice is split and scrambled through deadly fangs.

"We've got to help Lucian. Kraven shot him…he's wounded."

_Help Lucian? _

Selene backed away from him slightly, eyes wide and uncomprehending.

"Why would we help Lucian? He's a lycan, Michael, his kind have-"

"-Been persecuted by yours for centuries." Michael finished for her, black eyes flashing in challenge. "All because of Victor's prejudices."

_I cannot believe it. He is mistaken. Lucian started this war, and now Michael wishes to aid his victory? This is insanity…_

Selene tenses, furious, before taking a deep breath.

…_but it is not Michael's fault he has been misled. He is still Michael._

"You take Lucian's word-"

"I _saw_it happen!" Michael erupts, before he too manages to calm himself. "I told you, I saw it as if I was there. I _know_ what happened."

He looks at Selene, and she feels a shock of surprise that these black eyes, although disconcerting, are as emotive as Michael's human gaze had been. She can see that he sincerely believes that what he is saying is the truth, can see his desperation that she believe him and almost feels guilty that she still cannot.

"Michael," she places a hand gently on his arm, finding it warm to the touch, if somewhat cooler than before. "I do not doubt that you _did_ see these events. But that does not ensure their truth. I trust Victor, he would not do such a thing. Look, we captured that lycan scientist…if he had the capability to discover a way to cross the bloodlines, something we all thought impossible, what's to say that he wasn't able to find a way of altering blood memories? After all, what better way to instinctively prejudice all newly created lycans against vampires?"

Selene watches as Michael frowns, absorbing the information.

_Perhaps I have convinced him? And if we were both to come to Victor's aid, then he would see that Michael was unquestionably on our side._

But then Michael shakes his head, one fist clenching.

"No. Even if what you said was possible…when Lucian told me what happened…he was telling the truth. I could see it in his eyes Selene, he loved Sonja…still does, still grieves for her even after all this time. You can't…you can't fake that. He's not evil."

Selene sighs.

_He underestimates Lucian's capabilities. and vampire could tell you that Lucian was intelligent, manipulative…more than capable of faking emotions in order to support a lie._

"He is a lycan. If you knew-"

Once again Selene is cut off.

"And Kraven is a vampire – does that redeem him? Anyway, Lucian is no longer a lycan. He's a hybrid now…" There's a pause, and then Michael flicks his gaze up to meet hers, his last words quiet, barely there. "…like me."

_Oh blood. I can't make him see…not now he and Lucian are a kind of kin…_

Selene gasps, pained, feeling as though her heart had been beating then suddenly stopped, filled with dread.

_If Lucian survives, Michael will take his side, I can see that. Could I…could I keep fighting a war that has Michael on the other side? Or must I abandon the fight I have battled for so long…"_

"I cannot fight Victor." Selene states.

Michael's whole body sags, and his voice comes out resigned and laced with regret, but true nonetheless.

"I can't fight Lucian." He hangs his head and lets out a long sigh.

_Is this it then, has fate forced us to be enemies?_

Selene can't look at Michael, can feel moisture tracing down her cheeks, though she hasn't cried since her family were killed…

Then she feels a gentle touch, Michael's hand intertwining with hers. She slowly brings her eyes up, to see love mingling with the resignation and guilt of before, and suddenly she knows his next words before they leave his mouth.

"But I can't fight you either, Selene." He gives her a sad little smile and somehow, despite the sharpened teeth warping its shape, the smile is still Michael's.

"So we won't fight." he states, his tone calm and measured, still looking her in the eye. We wont intervene. We stay together and let what happens happen." His hand grips hers more tightly and his eyes are pleading again, as Selene's mind reels.

_For a Death Dealer to stand by and not come to the aid of an Elder…it's wrong…unthinkable. But then again, so is Michael's very existence, and I can not bring myself to condemn that. Michael is offering me a way out, a way that we can stay together…surely I should take it? But can I just stand by and watch if Victor was to be defeated by the enemy I've fought against for so long?_

Selene takes a moment, letting the space between her and Michael lapse into silence, focusing on the faint sounds of battle from outside.

_I can hear blows, can hear rubble scattering as a body impacts against it….there!...the sound of a pained whine – Lucian! Victor must have the upper hand. Of course – I was foolish to even consider that Lucian might come out of this alive – Victor shall triumph, he always does. He has no need for my aid._

Selene nods once, and Michael grins in relief.

"Okay, we don't intervene."

_So long as Victor wins…_


End file.
